{"id":8293,"date":"2024-07-30T13:03:47","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T17:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accesasie.com\/?page_id=8293"},"modified":"2026-04-08T15:03:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T19:03:27","slug":"historique","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/accesasie.com\/en\/the-festival\/historique\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"DESSINE LA VIE \/ DRAW MY LIFE - Festival Acc\u00e8s Asie 30 ans\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RZ_Ly4gee6c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 1995: The Festival Acc\u00e8s Asie (FAA) is founded by Bernard Nguyen and Janet Lumb to develop the presence of Asian diaspora communities in Quebec\u2019s artistic and cultural landscape. Founding members include Asian artists, community activists, and entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 2002: The festival team moves into its first official office at Le Ges\u00f9 \u2013 Centre de cr\u00e9ativit\u00e9, where the FAA still has its headquarters today. Its influence and range of activities gradually expand, and the number of artistic proposals presented multiplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 2004: The Government of Canada designates May as Asian Heritage Month (decision adopted by the Canadian Senate in December 2001). The FAA approaches the City of Montreal to also recognize May as Asian Heritage Month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 2004: Thanks to the joint efforts of the FAA and Helen Fotopulos (mayor of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough from 2002 to 2009 and honorary committee member of the FAA), the City of Montreal proclaims May as \u201cAsian Heritage Month\u201d through a City Council resolution on April 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 November 2012: Janet Lumb, co-founder and artistic director of the FAA, steps down. Khosro Berahmandi, part of the team since 2001, becomes General and Artistic Director. In the following years, he successfully programs 21 festivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 2018: The FAA expands beyond Montreal with <em>Fleur de lys, Fleur de th\u00e9<\/em> (FLFT). This nomadic platform, initially created in 1998, had not taken off due to lack of human and financial resources. In 2018, FLFT is revived in Sherbrooke. The goal of this mini nomadic festival is to showcase the work of Asian artists in regions of Quebec, where cultural offerings are less diverse than in Montreal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 2020: Karine Kerr-Gillespie becomes General Director, prompting a major reflection and restructuring of the FAA: human resources policies, digitalization of the organization, job redesign, and operational streamlining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 2022: The festival launches <em>Confronting Racism Together<\/em>, a platform fighting racism and promoting social justice through the arts, organized as part of Montreal\u2019s anti-racism action week in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 2022: The festival is nominated for the 36th Grand Prix of the Conseil des arts de Montr\u00e9al, recognizing outstanding contributions to Montreal\u2019s cultural scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 2022: Khosro Berahmandi, FAA\u2019s Artistic Director, receives the Charles-Biddle Award, honoring his exceptional contribution to cultural and artistic development in Quebec through the festival\u2019s programming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2022<\/strong> January 2023: The arrival of Nayla Naoufal as Artistic Director marks a new cycle for the festival, focusing on adapting to new trends in cultural dissemination and mediation, and developing new partnerships. The artistic vision evolves, balancing continuity with renewal in programming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2022<\/strong> 2025: The festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary, with an edition that honors its history and marks the arrival of Ziya Tabassian as Artistic Director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2022<\/strong> January 2026: The festival introduces the first edition of <em>Cabarets Confluences<\/em>, a monthly evening of artistic performances strenghtening connections between artists of Asian descent and Montreal audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Festival Acc\u00e8s Asie wishes to honor the many individuals who have founded and supported the organization. A special thank you to the following people who have contributed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Co-founders<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;Bernard Nguyen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Janet Lumb<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Founding Members<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Avy Anthy Loftus<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Khosro Berahmandi<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rebecca Chong<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Patrice Fouch\u00e9<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hunt Hoe<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Salman M. Hussain<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Viviane Schami<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Himmat Shinhat<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Atif Siddiqi<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nancy Tatabe<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Milton Tanaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>First Supporters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jim Wong Chu<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chris Creighton-Kelly<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sharon Fernandez<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saheed Khan<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Desh Pardesh<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vivienne Poy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zainub Verjee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2022 1995: The Festival Acc\u00e8s Asie (FAA) is founded by Bernard Nguyen and Janet Lumb to develop the presence of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1016,"menu_order":25,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8293","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>History - 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